Their concerns included stalled utility repair work preventing homeowners from returning home, a drop in police presence, no visible reconstruction of the beaches and Ocean Terrace Road, and debris removal from the bay.

Many of these issues, township officials said, were simply out of their control.

Take the beach remediation.

Assistant Township Engineer Wendy A. Birkhead said there are 25 to 30 private homeowners associations that need to sign easement rights over to the township in order for beach replenishment work by the Army Corps of Engineers to begin.

“It’s necessary if we are going to protect our barrier island residents and the beach,” Council President Maurice B. Hill Jr. said.

Holiday Road resident Pat Suriani said the governing body should hold a special meeting to address residents’ fear that their private beaches will become public once easement rights are turned over to the municipality.

“People are leery of the public/private situation,” Suriani said.

“For some reason, people are not trustworthy at the moment; they have had their homes taken away from them and we don’t know whether to fix our homes. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you guys to have a public meeting to answer the taxpayers’ questions.”

However, Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher said holding such a meeting with 500 residents would not prove productive.